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If Rabbi Jenny's name sounds familiar, perhaps it's because she's the spouse of Rabbi Eric (Rabbi and Rabbi Solomon? Rabbi and Rabba Solomon? Rabbis Solomon?), who was recently forced by his congregation to drop a plan to take them on an anti-Israel tour run by Breaking the Silence.

For those of you who have forgotten 'Breaking the Silence,' they are an
organization that claims to be dedicated to exposing IDF abuses of
'Palestinians' in Judea and Samaria. They are funded by European governments, by the European Union (which awarded them the prestigious Andrei Sakharov prize) and by private American citizens (as well as by UNICEF and OxFam). 'Breaking the Silence' interviews discharged IDF soldiers and debriefs them regarding their IDF service. Or so they claim. It now seems that they do a lot more.

The 2013 document describes the "toxic atmosphere" in 2000 and 2001
when the foundation began its work in the Middle East, and how this
environment could lead to "politically motivated investigations" from
either the Bush administration or what it calls "pro-Israel entities."
Soros himself was worried about George W. Bush. In 2006, he said the
president's communications strategy reminded him of Nazi and Communist
propaganda. Hence his foundations took a "cautious approach."

"For
a variety of reasons we wanted to construct a diversified portfolio of
grants dealing with Israel and Palestine, funding both Israeli Jewish
and (Palestinian Citizens of Israel) groups as well as building a
portfolio of Palestinian grants and in all cases to maintain a low
profile and relative distance –particularly on the advocacy front," the
2013 paper says.

Some of this was known before. I reported
in 2010 that the liberal Jewish group J Street had received Soros money
but had denied receiving it to the press and on its website. In 2013,
the pro-Israel group NGO Monitor issued a report on Soros funding for Israeli and Palestinian activists covered in the documents released this week.

Still,
let's take a minute here to savor the irony. An outfit that promotes
the "open society" is shielding its efforts to influence public policy.
It's true that plenty of foundations take a similar sub rosa approach to
funding advocacy work in Washington.

But those foundations are not
named for Karl Popper's famous defense of liberal democracies. It's
enough to make you wish there was a new Open Society Foundations to
expose the old one.

The group that leaked these documents is
mysterious. It's called DCLeaks.com, and it says it's a project of
"hacktivists" committed to many of the same principles espoused by
Popper and Soros.

Rebecca Beyer, a communications officer for Open
Society, confirmed to me Monday that documents were removed from an
online forum used by the staff of the foundation and its partners. She
said the breach was reported to the FBI. "The materials reflect
big-picture strategies over several years from the Open Society
Foundations network, which supports human rights, democratic practice,
economic advancement, and the rule of law in more than 100 countries
around the world."

When it comes to Israel, that translates into
funding organizations like Breaking the Silence, a group of Israeli
ex-soldiers who tour Europe and the U.S. to discuss the Israel Defense
Force's war crimes. The document says that between 2012 and 2014, the
Open Society Foundations gave this group $100,000 -- a significant
donation for a group that in 2012 had a budget of only $841,410.

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About Me

I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com